U.S. Pat. No. 6,386,514 discloses how a winch can be attached to a vehicle's trailer hitch ball, also known as a tow ball. Examples of vehicles include, but are not limited to, cars trucks, ATVs, snowmobiles, buggies, airboats, tanks, wreckers, tow trucks, logging equipment, construction equipment, utility equipment, agricultural equipment, military vehicles, and rescue equipment. Attaching a winch to a vehicle, as shown in the '514 patent, can be useful in situations where the winch is pulling in a direction that is generally horizontal or level with the vehicle. In some cases, however, the vehicle may be stuck in a deep ditch or gully, and a winch might need to pull upward at a significant incline in order to pull the vehicle out.
A winch pulling at an upward angle, rather than horizontally, can apply a damagingly high bending moment on the vehicle's chassis, bumper, and receiver and ball mount. The receiver and ball mount is the hardware that typically connects the tow ball to the vehicle. If a cup plate (also known as a trailer coupler, which is the socket that fits over the tow ball) is tilted up or down relative to the tow ball, the ball locking mechanism within the cup plate or edges on the cup plate itself can possibly cut into the neck portion of the tow ball and do permanent damage.
Consequently, a need exists for a safer way of quickly connecting a winch to a vehicle's tow ball.